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tercel
1. A male hawk; especially, male peregrine or gyrfalcon.
2. Etymology: "male falcon"; from Old French tercel (c.1200), from Middle Latin tertiolus, from Latin tertius, "third".

There are various theories as to why it is called this; one says it's because the males are a third smaller than the females; another because a third egg in the nest (smaller than the other two) is believed always to produce a male bird.

This entry is located in the following unit: terce-, ter- + (page 1)